Roland Emmerich May Be Getting His Hands on Some Dark Matter

A Dark Matter movie is in the works, based on Blake Crouch’s recently released sci-fi thriller.

Even though Roland Emmerich announced last month that he would no longer be pursuing a Stargate reboot (at least in the near future), he’s still got a pretty packed sci-fi slate, with Moonfall and Indepence Day 3 on the horizon (not to mention he’s also directing the historical drama Maya Lord). But apparently, that’s not enough sci-fi for Emmerich, as Deadline is reporting that he’s in negotiations with Sony and producer Matt Tolmach to direct an adaptation of Blake Crouch’s sci-fi thriller Dark Matter. There’s no word yet on who will be scripting the Dark Matter movie, though Emmerich might end up in that role as well, as he’s done plenty of writing.

Crouch is no stranger to sci-fi or adaptations, as his Wayward Pines novels were picked up by Fox for TV series adaptation which finished airing a second season earlier this year.

What’s Dark Matter About?

Quantum physicist Jason Dessen was headed for a brilliant research career but decided to take a different path after his girlfriend’s unexpected pregnancy and the birth of his son. Now a professor at a small Chicago college, and enjoying a happy and cozy married family life, Professor Dessen is “abducted into a world in which his quantum many-worlds theory has become a fully realized technology for inter-dimensional transfer.” Now trapped in this parallel world where he didn’t marry his girlfriend the couple never had a son, Dessen is determined to find a way to return to his other life. However, villainous types in the parallel world conspire to stop the good professor from both getting back and revealing the terrible and criminal lengths they went to in order to create the world-hopping technology based on his theories.

Any Other Information on the Dark Matter Movie?

Sony and Tolmach have been excited to tackle a Dark Matter movie since 2014 when the studio made a $1.25 million dollar deal for the movie rights to the book based on a 150-page partial manuscript. (The novel was published earlier this year in July by Crown, who apparently paid more than $1 million for the North American publishing rights.)

Emmerich appears to be the first piece to the puzzle, and more details (casting, possible release dates, etc.) should follow in the next few months should Emmerich officially sign on.

Anders Clark is a sci-fi addict, nerd and lover of movies. He enjoys writing about all the latest and greatest in the world of science fiction and can't wait for jet-packs, self driving hover cars, space travel and instant food synthesizers.